Administration of the famous Sri Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh which falls under Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Board. The board has now transferred its 18 employees for allegedly participating in “non-Hindu religious activities”. The board has taken this decision on February 1.
An order in this regard was revealed in which the names of the employees who were involved in the opposite practices of Hindu traditions. According to the report of Indian Express, the employees who have been transferred include six teachers from various TTD educational institutions. These include Dr. KV Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Professor at SV Ayurvedic College and Sujata and G. Asuntha of Lecturer and Principal at PG College.
Apart from this, many other employees of various departments have also been affected, such as Deputy Executive Officer of Kalyan A.K. Anand Raju and auction assistant executive officer A.K. Rajasekhar Babu. Transfer also includes staff from technical, medical and administrative sector. The Executive Order of TTD states that these 18 employees were identified as non-Hindu religious activities, while they took an oath to follow Hindu traditions at the time of appointment.
According to TTD, this is a violation of the rules prescribed in the Government Order No. 1060 of the Revenue Department (Entry). The board claimed that such action could affect the sanctity and faith of Hindu devotees, and can damage the values maintained by the temple for centuries. The step has been taken after the decision taken in November, in which the TTD board agreed to transfer non-Hindu employees and ban political speeches in its meetings. TTD had emphasized that all employees should maintain temple traditions and values and the purpose of transfer is to maintain the sanctity of Sri Venkateswara Temple.
Andhra Pradesh government’s response
Reacting to the decision of the TTD board, Andhra Pradesh IT and Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh said that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) strongly supports the government’s stand. He told the media, “This is our government’s stand. There is no two opinion about this … We talked about it before the election, we are standing on it.”
